A Home
by remora29
Summary: Songfic: Kagome ponders her life in the future ten years after she left InuYasha to go to college. Set to the Dixie Chicks' A Home.


**A Home **

**A One-shot Songfic **

**by Remora29**

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha, Kagome, or any of the characters used in this fanfic. I don't own the song "A Home" sung by the Dixie Chicks. I only own the plot.

**"Song lyrics"**

* * *

"I'm home," Kagome called out, as she entered the shrine. 

No one answered, but she hadn't been expecting a response. It had been years since anyone but herself lived there. Souta had moved away after finishing college—he wanted his own space. She couldn't blame him, but she missed him. Her grandfather had passed away a few years back. It was a hard time for her, for all of them really, but she managed to make it. Her mother moved into an apartment closer to downtown Tokyo. She said that the shrine was too much for her to care for now that her father-in-law was dead and her kids were grown. Mrs. Higurashi just wanted a simpler life. Now, Kagome was alone, and she had no one to blame but herself.

* * *

10 years earlier 

_Naraku was defeated and all the jewel shards collected. Kikyou took Naraku to hell. Kohaku died with honor. Kagura regained control of her heart and disappeared with Kanna. Kouga gained vengeance for his slain brethren and decided that Ayame would make a fine mate. Sango and Miroku were planning their wedding, and Shippo was excited to be living with them. Kagome and InuYasha, on the other hand..._

"_What are you going to do now that the jewel is completed," InuYasha asked Kagome, his face turned away so she wouldn't see his nervousness._

"_I don't know," she replied honestly. "I guess I'll return to my era and finish school, since there is nothing left here for me."_

"_Stay with me," he said softly, and immediately cursed himself for blurting it out. He hadn't meant to ask her so suddenly, but his fear of her leaving forever overpowered his usual reserve._

_Kagome stared at him for the longest time. She couldn't believe that he had just asked her to stay with him. She wanted to be with him more than anything, and he had finally showed her that he didn't want to be without her._

"_I will," she said, then was caught up in his arms. He smiled at her then, a true smile, and for the first time in both of their lives, all was right in the world._

* * *

But all good things must come to an end. Kagome was finishing up school a couple of months after the final battle when she went to WacDnald's with her girlfriends. 

**I mistook the warnings for wisdom**

**From so-called friends, quick to advise**

**Though your touch was telling me otherwise**

"_So Kagome, where are you going to college?" Yuka asked her as they sat gossiping about the latest breakup. _

"_Um, I'm not going."_

_Kagome looked as if she were going to say something else, but that statement got all of her friends' attention._

"_WHAT?" they yelled, causing everyone in WacDnald's to look at them as if they had lost their minds. _

"_I'm not going," she said again, this time more forcefully._

"_But you have to go," Eri chimed in. "You've missed so much high school because of your illnesses that you have to go to college. Besides, what kind of future will you have if you don't?"_

"_Well, I was thinking of getting married," she replied, cautiously gauging her friends' reactions._

"_To whom? That two-timing, rude, obnoxious jerk? Please, how long do you think it will last?" Yuka said._

"_Yeah, how long before he goes to someone else. You shouldn't give up your future for a guy," Eri commented._

_And her friends continued to bombard her until she relented, finally agreeing to join them for college. During the whole conversation, Kagome failed to note that Ayumi had not said one thing to her about her decision. She just looked at Kagome in pity as she allowed Yuka and Eri to strong-arm her into something she obviously didn't want to do_.

* * *

**Somehow I saw you as a weakness**

**I thought I had to be strong**

**Oh but I was just young, **

**I was scared, I was wrong**

So Kagome went to college, but not before she confronted InuYasha. He didn't take her decision well. He couldn't understand why she would purposefully start more school when she was finished. After she agreed to stay with him, he had built a house for them. Not a hut, like the rest of the villagers had, but a real house as close as he could make it to the ones in her times. He anticipated her coming to live with him soon after graduation because the Shikon no Tama needed to be purified soon. After the jewel was purified, the well would close and she would be trapped in the Feudal Era.

Their parting was bittersweet. He wanted to make her his mate so that if he didn't live to see her again, his soul would find her after it was reincarnated. She wanted to wait until they were reunited because she wasn't sure of their love. He watched her jump into the Bone Eater's Well for the last time, then fell to his knees in grief.

* * *

**Not a night goes by**

**I don't dream of wandering**

**Through the home that might have been**

And now she was alone with no one to blame but herself. She had thrown aside InuYasha on a whim, a desire to experience "normal" life. What she didn't realize, however, was that love is a major part of normal life. Her friends did, however. Yuka, who had made such a stink about her not letting a guy run her life, quit college after their sophomore year because she had fell madly in love with an American exchange student and she couldn't bear to be without him. They eventually married and now have two kids, and Yuka couldn't be happier, even though she never finished college. Eri did finish, but got married soon after to a guy she had met in school. She never did use her degree, but as her husband travels a lot for his job,and she follows him the same way Kagome used to follow InuYasha.

**I listened to my pride**

**When my heart cried for you**

**Now every day I wake again**

**In a house that might have been**

**A home**

Kagome and Ayumi are still friends, and meet each other occasionally for lunch. During their most recent meeting, Ayumi spoke her mind.

"Kagome, we've been friends for a long time, and I never have pried into your life, but I can't keep this to myself. Go to him, whoever and wherever he is. You've been miserable these last ten years, and no degree or job is worth that."

"I can't," Kagome replied sadly, "it's not that simple."

"But you love him and you miss him. You haven't given a real smile since the two of you broke up. If he loves you the way you love him, then I'm sure he misses you and wants you back," Ayumi pressed.

"You don't understand. I can't go back to him because I can't get to him any more," Kagome told her and proceeded to explain everything to Ayumi about the well, the Feudal Era and InuYasha.

"Well, I still feel that if you truly love him, nothing will separate the two of you, but I'll leave it alone," Ayumi shook her head sadly.

* * *

**Guess I did what I did believing**

**Love was a dangerous thing**

**But that doesn't hurt any more**

**Than never knowing**

Kagome tried to put her conversation with Ayumi out of her mind, but it kept haunting her. Dreams of InuYasha and what their life could have been started haunting her. When she was out running errands, she would sometimes catch glimpses of white hair and red robes and think that InuYasha was out there. But she knew better. It wasn't him—he was 500 years in the past.

**Not a night goes by**

**I don't dream of wandering**

**Through the home that might have been**

**I listened to my pride**

**When my heart cried out for you**

**Now everyday I wake again**

**In a house that might have been **

**A home**

After weeks of dreaming and hallucinating about InuYasha, Kagome finally snapped. She needed to talk to someone about her problems, and she knew the perfect person: her mother.

"Oh Kagome, what's the matter?" her mother asked as she took in her daughter's haggard appearance.

"Mom, I don't know any more. I used to think that I was content in life, but then Ayumi pointed out that I haven't been the same since I left InuYasha in the past. Now I feel emptiness and a longing that I haven't felt in a long time. If I go back, thought—assuming the well will let me pass—I'd be stuck there and would never see you or Souta again," Kagome spilled to her mother, tears in her eyes.

"Honey, if you're unhappy then change what makes you that way."

"But Mama, it isn't that simples," Kagome protested.

"It's as easy as you make it. Kagome, you know that I love you and want the best for you, but I can't make this decision for you. You're 29 years old, dear, and it's time you did something for yourself. Souta and I will be fine if you leave. Besides, I would rather you were happy in a place where I couldn't reach you than miserable with me," her mother told her, giving her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Thanks Mama. No matter what I decide, know that I love you and Souta very much," Kagome told her.

"We know, dear. We know. Now run along and meet your destiny," her mother smiled at her.

**Four walls, a roof, a door**

**Some windows**

**Just a place to run**

**When my lonely day's through**

Kagome went home and snuggled in her bed. She tried to think over everything she discussed with her mother and Ayumi. She would be giving up a lot to be with InuYasha. No modern technology or conveniences, and the threat of demons or bad harvests devastating their lives. It would be difficult at best, but the people she loved would surround her: InuYasha, Shippou, Sango, Miroku, and any children her and InuYasha created.

On the other hand, if she stayed in the future, she would not have InuYasha. Sure she has a job that she likes, a few good friends, and her mother and brother, but somehow the prospect of living without him left her feeling cold. She could try to find someone else, but she knew deep in her heart that she would never love anyone the way she loved him.

**They say home is where the heart is**

**If the exception proves the rule**

**I guess that's true**

She made her decision—she was going home. Kagome could only hope that he would forgive her for leaving him for so long. With a last goodbye to her mother, brother and Ayumi, Kagome jumped into the well and embraced her future.

* * *

**Not a night goes by**

**I don't dream of wandering**

**Through the home that might have been**

InuYasha sat in the God tree, like he always did. Although ten years had passed, he still thought of Kagome. He didn't understand how she could leave him, especially for that school thing that he thought she hated.

'_Not as much as she hates me'_ he thought to himself, but quickly abandoned that train of thought. It always led to wallowing in self-pity, and frankly he was tired of it. She made her decision, and even if it killed him, he would live with it. Besides, there were more important things to think about today. Sango and Miroku were expecting another child, their eighth, and he had to be there to help. Kaede had died two years earlier, and since then Sango, Miroku, Shippo and InuYasha had taken over the village's care. With all of the wounds they got in their four-year quest against Naraku they were experts on healing.

InuYasha jumped out of the tree and headed to Sango and Miroku's home. It was built in the same fashion as his, but it was much warmer, almost alive. He guessed it had something to do with the fact that their home was filled with love and his with pain, but decided not to think about that either. After eating dinner with his family (for that is what they were—Sango his sister, Miroku his brother, their kids his nieces and nephews, and Shippo his brother), he retired to his house.

He slept in the lone bed in the house, dreaming of what he couldn't have: a family.

Morning came sooner than he expected, with Shippo barging into his room in the middle of the night explaining that Sango had gone into labor. He jumped up, got ready and headed for Sango and Miroku's home. Once there, he assisted Miroku with getting Sango on the futon and prepared for labor. Shippo took the kids into another part of the home so they wouldn't hear or see anything unnecessary.

The labor was relatively short compared to the last one, with the baby being born around dawn. _'A good omen'_ InuYasha thought what with the baby's birth coinciding with the rising of the sun. He hoped that this child would be as blessed as the rest of Sango and Miroku's brood. After his exhausting night, he bid his family a quick goodbye, kissing the newborn baby girl on the head, and returned to his house.

**I listened to my pride**

**When my heart cried out for you**

**Now everyday I wake again**

**In a house that might have been **

**A home**

He was restless, however, and couldn't stay inside long. Seeing that new life, a life created from the love Sango and Miroku shared, was like a knife to his heart. He was jealous, and he felt bad about it, but he was envious of his best friends. They got to spend their lives together, loving each other and the product of their love, while he watched. Sure, they loved him as he loved them—as family. But InuYasha wanted a family created from him and his mate, Kagome. Some dreams die hard, and this one would no doubt haunt him for the rest of his life.

As he walked along, he found himself at the Bone Eater's Well. It was the source of his greatest happiness and most profound sorrow. He couldn't describe his feelings upon seeing the well, but for some reason he was drawn to it.

"I just wish she would come back to me," he whispered to the well, as if it had the power to make his dream come true. After staring into its murky depths for a while longer, InuYasha turned and left. As he got to the edge of the clearing, a faint scent came to him. It was one he hadn't smelled in over ten years.

"Kagome," he said, scarcely breathing. Her name was a prayer on his lips. A plea to whatever god heard him to deliver him from his personal hell of loneliness. He turned and ran back to the well, to see if his nose was lying to him. He looked down, and there at the bottom was his mate, his love, and his life. Kagome had returned.

Kagome had barely gotten her wits about her as she was swept up in someone's arms. She knew it was him before she even saw his face, but she needed to see him to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

"InuYasha," she breathed out, hoping that he was real.

"Kagome, you're back. You're back," he kept repeating, tears freely running down his face. He never thought he would see her again as the well was sealed, but here she was in front of him.

"Yes, InuYasha, I'm back and I'm never leaving you again," she told him, before kissing him with all she had. He gladly returned the kiss, hungrily devouring her lips, showing her everything he felt.

She wasn't aware of them moving, but she soon found herself lying on his haori underneath the God tree. There, InuYasha and Kagome consummated their love for each other and pledged their undying devotion until the end of their days.

After it was over and they were both dressed, InuYasha got up and extended his hand to Kagome.

"Come on, Mate—let's go home," he told her, feeling complete for the first time in his life.

"Yes love, let's go home."

* * *

_Ok, I know I didn't explain how she got through the well, but that's because I didn't want to ruin the flow of the story with technicalities. So yes, she did purify the jewel, which was why she hadn't seen InuYasha in 10 years. But their love was so strong and their desire to be together so great that the well allowed her passage. Yes, I know it's corny, but hey, this idea has been bothering me for a week so I just had to get it out._

_Oh yeah, and all my faithful readers of Correcting Mistakes. I'm sorry that you've had to wait so long, but I will get a new chapter up by the end of the weekend. I have some stuff to work out about my future that it taking up all my time. _


End file.
